U.N. Drops Wonder Woman as an Ambassador

The United Nations has ended a campaign featuring Wonder Woman as an ambassador for women and girls, two months after the announcement was met with protests and a petition complaining that the fictional superhero was an inappropriate choice to represent female empowerment.

In announcing the campaign in October, the United Nations said it was “about women and girls everywhere, who are wonder women in their own right, and the men and boys who support their struggle for gender equality.”

But not everyone saw it that way. Nearly 45,000 people signed a petition protesting the selection.

“A large-breasted white woman of impossible proportions, scantily clad in a shimmery, thigh-baring body suit with an American flag motif and knee-high boots” is not an appropriate spokeswoman for gender equity at the United Nations, the petition said.

Jeffrey Brez, a spokesman for the U.N., disputed that the campaign had ended early or as a result of the protest, as some reports have suggested, citing other honorary ambassadorships with much shorter tenures.

The “Angry Birds” character Red spent one day in May as an honorary ambassador for climate issues, he said.

“Some people voiced a concern that they didn’t feel it was appropriate for a fictional character to be representing women and girls,” Mr. Brez said on Tuesday.

In response to those complaints, he said, the organization had tried to emphasize “the real-life wonder women, real-life women and girls” who would be affected by the campaign, which was meant to promote gender equity worldwide as part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Wonder Woman’s ambassadorship began with great fanfare with an event in October that featured the actresses Lynda Carter and Gal Gadot, who have both portrayed the character on the big and small screens.

A spokeswoman for DC Entertainment, in whose comics Wonder Woman first appeared in 1941, said the company has been “extremely pleased” with the partnership.

“Wonder Woman stands for peace, justice and equality, and for 75 years she has been a motivating force for many and will continue to be long after the conclusion of her U.N. honorary ambassadorship,” the spokeswoman, Courtney Simmons, said via email.

Wonder Woman’s ambassadorship officially ends on Friday.

Correction:

An earlier version of the article misstated part of the name of the United Nations initiative that included the Wonder Woman campaign. It is the Sustainable Development Goals, not the Millennium Goals.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A11 of the New York edition with the headline: U.N. Shuts Down Campaign Featuring Wonder Woman. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe